The meaning in Scripture is
often very subtle, and not immediately obvious on the surface. Today’s
reading is especially subtle in one of its important messages.

Blessed Theophylact comments
that St John made a point to remind us about the miracle in Cana (a ciy of the
Jews) to underscore the superiority of the faith of the Samaritans, as he had
just finished recounting the story of the woman at the well, and how the
Samaritans gladly received Jesus and believed in Him even though He did not do
any miracles in their presence:

So when the Samaritans were come unto him,
they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two
days. (41) And many more believed because of his own
word; (42) And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not
because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is
indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.(John 4:40-42)

The superiority of the
Samaritan’s faith to that of the haughty Jews (who hated the Samaritans
and considered them to be unclean heretics and inferiors) is further emphasized
by our Lord’s rebuke, spoken to a Jew (for the nobleman was certainly a
Jew in good standing among his people):

48.Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not
believe.

The nobleman’s weak
faith also shows a marked contrast with that of the
Samaritans:

49.The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child
die.

He could not believe that Jesus
could heal without seeing his son, and blessed Theophylact further tells us
that he was very afraid that his son would die, and that Christ would be unable
to raise him. He only believed Jesus power to heal after he heard from his
servants, who met him as he went back to his home:

51And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and
told him, saying, Thy son liveth.52Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend.
And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left
him.53So the father knew that it was at the same
hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed,
and his whole house.

Of course, it is wonderful that
the man’s weak faith was made strong by the incident, and his entire
household believed.

At the end of this incident, St
John again stresses the weak faith of the Jews, by again mentioning that Jesus
had done two miracles among the Jews. The Samaritans had believed with no
miracles, and the Jews needed two miracles, and only a few believed.

54This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he
was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

There is nothing in the Gospel which explicitly exalts the
faith of the Samaritans over that of the Jews, but in several ways, the Gospel
makes this point strongly, although subtly.

How does one glean such deep meanings from the Scripture?
There are several ways; we must do them all.

We must be students of the
Scriptures; it must be familiar to
us because of long time association with its content. In other words, we must
read it, a LOT.

We also must be “doer’s of the law and not
hearers only” – no amount of reading the scripture divorced
from trying to follow it will give us understanding in things that
matter.

Of course, anybody who reads and studies something enough
will know much about it, but the knowledge that saves is only available to
those who read and attempt to follow the scripture!

We also must be liturgical people. Our services
explain the hidden points of the scriptures every day. A person who reads the
scriptures for understanding and neglects frequent, attentive worship in as
many services as possible is like a man who studies physics but does not
understand algebra. The services explain everything, either explicitly, or by
framing and shaping our minds in a way which make us able to understand the
Scriptures.

It is also very helpful the read the Holy Fathers,
but without the first three, above, reading the Fathers is an endeavor that can
only lead to deficient knowledge and boasting.

A few other things about this scripture selection.

A
“sign” is something that does not contradict the usual
laws of nature, such as healing the sick. A “wonder” is a
miracle that appears the contradict the usual laws of nature, such as making
the blind see, or raising the dead.

This
healing is similar to the healing of the Centurion’s servant
(Mat
8:5-13), but it is not the
same. Blessed Theophylact goes to some pains to explain this. The differences
are many. The nobleman was a Jew; the centurion, although a man of faith, was
an officially pagan Roman soldier. The nobleman’s son was ill with a
fever, the centurion’s servant with paralysis. The location of the
healings was different: the centurion encountered Christ after he had come
off the mountain following His transfiguration and entered Capernaum, and the
nobleman saw Christ after He left Samaria and entered Cana. The most
important difference, of course, is that the centurion had stronger faith,
which the Lord praised:

The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am
not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only,
and my servant shall be healed. (9) For I am a man under
authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth;
and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth
it. (10) When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that
followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in
Israel.”(Mat
8:8-10)

JOHN 4:46-5446So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made
the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at
Capernaum.47When he heard that Jesus was come out of
Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come
down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.48Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders,
ye will not believe.49The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child
die.50Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son
liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he
went his way.51And as he was now going down, his servants
met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.52Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend.
And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left
him.53So the father knew that it was at the same
hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed,
and his whole house.54This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he
was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

Bibliography

The Explanation of the Holy Gospel according to St john,
by Blessed Theophylact, published by Chrysostom Press - http://www.chrysostompress.org/. ALL FOUR
BOOKS ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!